The Souvenirs - What Do You Know

Daniel Harris | Sunday, 25 April 2010

Derby has, quite rightly, never been celebrated for its musical history. As a city, the extent of its offerings is limited to White Town and one member of Liberty X.

Hoping to redress this balance come The Souvenirs, who are kindly giving away their new single 'What Do You Know'. What a generous gift this is too, as 'What Do You Know' is a cleverly orchestrated Indie Pop record. The track is about the shackles of an overbearing partner, and almost all elements of the song carry this theme.

The staccato drums represent a brooding frustration; wanting to but never exploding. Vocally, there is real passion and anger in the delivery of well written lyrics, the stand out being; "I don't know my mind no more, because I've always been spoken for."

The accompanying single artwork continues the theme, with each member of the band gagged and somber. A slightly unnecessary guitar squeal before the final chorus momentarily breaks the theme, but this is only a minor fault. All of this for free and packed into little over three minutes, making the track a perfect pop package. Derby may have a lot of catching up to on the musical map of Britain, but this generous offering from The Souvenirs is at least a step in the right direction.